King's Mistress, Queen's Servant: The Life and Times of Henrietta Howard

by Tracy Borman

  The first impressions were promising. Caroline seemed to strike a chord with the citizens of London. One newspaper enthused: ‘The whole conversation of the town turns upon the charms, sweetness and good manner of this excellent princess, whose generous treatment of everybody, who has had the honour to approach her, is such that none have come from her without being obliged by some particular expression of her favour.’10 Caroline was as forthcoming and affable as the King was withdrawn and sullen, and she threw herself into the ceremonies and diversions of court life with vigour. The evening after her arrival in England, she attended a drawing room at St James’s and delighted the guests by playing cards and chatting amiably to them for several hours. During the days that followed she went on promenades in the parks, attended receptions and assemblies, and welcomed company into her apartments at the palace. So bewildering was her array of social engagements that she complained of having scarcely enough time to prepare for the coronation.

  This event took place on 20 October 1714, a week after Caroline’s arrival. As it was the inauguration of a new line of kings, the English people were determined to put aside their growing resentment of George I and celebrate the occasion with unprecedented splendour. Just as on the day of the King’s entry into London, huge crowds lined the streets along which the coronation procession would pass, and Westminster Abbey was crowded with nobles, peers, ministers, officials and ambitious men and women seeking places at court, each anxious to find favour with George I. Even the Jacobites turned out to greet him, although their smiles were somewhat forced. One member of the congregation described them as ‘looking as cheerful as they could, but very peevish with Everybody that spoke to them’.11 They had prayed for rain, but the day was clear and bright, and the warm October sunshine gave an extra brilliance to the magnificent costumes and decorations.

  The King was dressed in robes of crimson velvet, lined with ermine and bordered with gold lace. He wore the collar of St George, and on his head the cap of estate adorned with a circle of gold encrusted with diamonds. Despite the magnificence of his attire, however, he did not present a very majestic figure, and the sourness of his countenance suggested that he was no more eager to take up his crown than he had been when he had first arrived in his new kingdom.

  Once inside Westminster Abbey, the traditional coronation ceremonies were observed. Owing to the King’s ignorance of English, these had to be explained to him by the high officials standing nearby. As they could speak neither German nor French, however, they had to resort to Latin as the only common language between them. George’s foreignness was even more obvious when it came to the part of the service at which he was required to repeat the anti-Catholic declaration. He did so with such a strong German accent as to render it completely unintelligible, and he could have been renouncing something entirely different for all the loyal Protestants standing by knew.

  Such mishaps aside, the ceremony proceeded along the accustomed lines, and at two o’clock in the afternoon, having received the coronation ring, orb and sceptre, the crown of Great Britain was lowered on to the head of the first Hanoverian king. The beating of drums and the sounding of trumpets inside the Abbey gave the signal for cannons to be fired across the city, which in turn prompted celebrations among the citizens of London and the population at large, lasting long into the night.

  Amidst the festivities, however, were signs of discord. Jacobite riots broke out in Bristol, Norwich and Birmingham, and in London shouts of ‘Damn King George!’ were heard amidst the more traditional salutes to the new sovereign. The discord went to the very heart of the ceremonials. During the coronation banquet in Westminster Hall, the King’s champion rode into the hall and, as tradition dictated, laid down a challenge to any person who did not acknowledge George as King of England. To the astonishment of the assembled guests, a woman promptly threw down her glove and cried out that His Majesty King James III was the only lawful owner of the crown and that the Elector of Hanover was a mere usurper. She was hastily ushered from the hall and the festivities resumed, apparently unabated. But the incident had betrayed a growing resentment of the foreign king.

  With the coronation over, the King and Prince and Princess of Wales set about the business of appointing the members of their households. Noblemen and women jostled with low-born adventurers in the state rooms of St James’s Palace, all hoping that the efforts they had already made to secure a place would pay off. Among them were Mr and Mrs Howard, who had arrived from Hanover shortly before the coronation. Henrietta knew that this was her only chance to avoid falling back into the misery and deprivation of their former life in London. Although her scheme to win favour at Herrenhausen had proved a resounding success, the promises made to her there already seemed a distant memory, and there was no guarantee that they would be honoured now that the Hanoverians had come into their inheritance. What was more, with no queen consort, places in the household of the Princess of Wales were highly sought after, and competition was fierce.

  Mrs Howard hastened to pay her respects to the Princess at the earliest opportunity, and was relieved when she was welcomed into her apartments at St James’s. She was joined by many other ladies of high-born status, each hoping to outdo the other in the hunt for the most prestigious places. Lady Mary Cowper, who was to be appointed a Lady of the Bedchamber, noted in her diary that she had made her way to court early one morning soon after the coronation in order to wait upon the Princess, but had found the Duchess of St Albans ‘upon the same errand’, along with the Duchess of Bolton, Charlotte Clayton and Mrs Howard.12

  Caroline had already made two appointments to her household before arriving in England. Elizabeth, Countess of Dorset, and Louisa, Countess of Berkeley, were both awarded positions as Lady of the Bedchamber. Five more were subsequently appointed to this role: the Duchesses of St Albans, Bolton, Montagu and Shrewsbury, and Lady Cowper. The post that Henrietta had been promised was that of Woman of the Bedchamber. Five days after appearing at St James’s, and several agonising months after first being promised the post, she finally got her reward. Along with Mary Selwyn, Mrs Pollexfen and Charlotte Clayton, she was appointed a Woman of the Bedchamber to the Princess of Wales on 26 October 1714.13

  Henrietta’s achievement should not be underestimated. In the fiercely competitive world of the court, social ‘quality’ was not enough to secure an appointment, and there were many more people fulfilling this criterion than there were places available. Lady Irby, for example, who, like the Howards, had fallen on hard times, appealed for a place in the Princess’s household on the grounds that this was the only way that she could be made ‘easy in her fortune’. Like so many others, she failed in her quest.14 Having a relation or patron at court was a key advantage, and most of those who sought positions without it (of whom Henrietta and her husband were numbered) were disappointed. Money was another useful tactic, and many place-seekers offered bribes to those close to the royal family in return for their putting in a good word. Again, this had not been an option for the Howards, who were still heavily in debt and could secure no further credit.

  But the overriding criterion for success was the ability to spend a great deal of time and effort at court. ‘Tenacity of purpose and determination to succeed were as important as the much-derided courtierly attributes – the ability to fawn and flatter,’ observed one contemporary.15 Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, whose husband was among those seeking a place at George I’s court, urged him not to be modest and self-effacing, but to push others out of the way and continue asking until he got what he wanted: ‘I don’t say it is impossible for an impudent man not to rise in the world; but a moderate merit, with a large share of impudence is more probable to be advanced, than the greatest qualifications without it.’16

  Henrietta was of a naturally modest and reserved manner, and it must have taken a substantial effort for her to push herself forward sufficiently. The years of misery inflicted on her by her husband were no doubt a powerfully motivating factor, and the r
esilience that they had given her enabled her to practise that other necessary quality of tenacity. Her position secured, she turned her attentions to her errant husband, hoping that he would manage to stay out of trouble long enough for the promise made to him in Hanover to be honoured. It seems that he did so, for shortly afterwards he became Groom of the Bedchamber to the new King.

  Although they were now in separate households, the Howards were given apartments together at St James’s Palace. They were among only a small number of household servants who enjoyed this honour. The palace was too small to accommodate all those who had a right to lodgings, and the majority went instead to Somerset House on the Strand, the great mews houses at Charing Cross, or were scattered about in Whitehall. Having apartments at St James’s was not necessarily indicative of great favour, however: these tended to be reserved for the Bedchamber staff, whose duties required them to have quick and easy access to their master or mistress.

  Most staff lodgings at the palace consisted of several rooms, and some were even large enough to house the officer’s own family and servants. That said, accommodation for the household staff at St James’s was considerably less luxurious than that enjoyed by the royal family in the state rooms above, and it left much to be desired in the way of comfort and hygiene. Damp was rife throughout the apartments, and the only ventilation came from the persistent draughts caused by broken windows still awaiting repair. Washing facilities were almost non-existent, while chamber pots were frequently used by both sexes ‘amongst a cloud of witnesses’.17

  Nevertheless, the Howards’ new apartments were undoubtedly preferable to the squalid lodgings in which they had been living before their sojourn in Hanover. They also had the significant advantage of being rent-free. In addition, the couple now received a regular wage: £500 per year for Charles and £300 for Henrietta.18 This was supplemented by an allowance for food when the court was in the ‘country’ – usually Hampton court or Windsor – for the summer. Above all, their court appointments gave them that most valuable asset, for which Henrietta had been striving ever since her wedding day: security.

  Chapter 5

  In Waiting

  * * *

  DURING THE REIGN OF England’s new king, George I, the structure of both the male and female royal households changed little from what it had been under his predecessors. Since the reign of James I, there had been four main departments: the Lord Chamberlain’s department, the household below stairs under the Lord Steward, the stables under the Master of the Horse, and the Bedchamber under the direction of the Groom of the Stole. With the exception of the first of these, which was the largest and had several different offshoots, each had a clearly defined purpose. The stables department looked after the King or Queen’s horses and carriages, and its leading officers became personal royal servants when the sovereign was out of doors. The household below stairs was a vast supply department that acquired, prepared and distributed food, drink, fuels and other necessaries throughout the court. The Bedchamber staff, among whom Henrietta and Charles were numbered, were the personal servants of the monarch in his or her private apartments. As such they were among the most sought-after positions because they had the greatest access to the sovereign.

  The royal household had, however, decreased considerably in size due to rising costs. Under Charles I, it had comprised 1,450 staff; a hundred years later, George I employed 950. The majority of these were located within the Lord Chamberlain’s department, which employed an average of 660 staff, while the Bedchamber was the smallest department with just thirty. However, there were many more men and women working at court than those who were listed as official servants. All of the greater and many of the minor household officers employed servants of their own, some of whom did their master’s work. Often, therefore, an appointment in the household could bring a regular income and access to the sovereign without any arduous duties. Taking the official servants and their own staff together, well over a thousand men and women were connected with the royal household in some way. This was a vast number, particularly when compared to the households of the nobility, the greatest of whom had only fifty servants, and most of whom had fewer than thirty.

  In addition to the household structure that was already established for George I when he arrived at St James’s, he also brought seventy-five of his own servants from Hanover. His two Turkish Grooms of the Bedchamber served the majority of his personal needs, and a number of bedroom pages did the rest. Furthermore, the new King had such a strong aversion to formal etiquette that the traditional duties performed by the bedchamber staff, such as the elaborate dressing ceremonies, were no longer required. Their activities were therefore limited to introducing men into the King’s rooms and accompanying him when he went out of his apartments. During the early years of his reign, George lived as private a life as possible. Even on the rare occasions that he dined in public, his bedchamber staff were not required to serve him on bended knee, as court etiquette usually dictated. As a result, these posts became little more than sinecures.

  The King chose not to appoint a Groom of the Stole until 1719. For the first five years of his reign, therefore, the Gentlemen of the Bedchamber were the most senior officials in that department. These posts were the preserve of the nobility, and most were held in conjunction with positions in government. Below them were the Grooms of the Bedchamber, of whom Charles Howard was one. Seven out of the eight Grooms had a military background, as was traditional for this position. The Grooms were the middle rank of servants in the Bedchamber and should have been kept busy with a range of tasks connected with the King’s person, including helping him to wash and dress. But although they were almost always in attendance, this was more for public show than for practicality, thanks to George I’s reliance on his German servants. The absence of any onerous duties no doubt suited the slothful Charles Howard perfectly.1

  His wife had a rather less easy time of it. In contrast to the King, both Caroline and her husband embraced every element of the traditional court ceremonies. This entailed a busy life for all those who attended them. The structure of their households mirrored that of the King, although the staff were paid significantly less. The Princess’s Bedchamber was presided over by the Duchess of St Albans as Groom of the Stole.2 Below her were the Ladies of the Bedchamber, who were all peeresses and undertook the most honourable and ceremonial duties of that department. They oversaw the work of the lower-ranking bedchamber staff and acted as companions to the Princess. They also waited on her during formal dinners, receptions and other state occasions. Not being a peeress, Henrietta was barred from this rank of servant, and was instead among the Women of the Bedchamber, who made up the middle tier of staff. Below them were the sempstresses, laundresses and other more menial servants.

  As Woman of the Bedchamber, Henrietta was one of only a small number of servants who had close and regular contact with the Princess. She and the seven other women who held this post took it in turns to be ‘in waiting’ – that is, on duty in the palace. During her periods of waiting, Henrietta was in more or less constant attendance on her mistress. Her day began early, as she was required to rise before the Princess and be ready to come into her bedchamber as soon as she awoke. Her first task was then to pour out the water in which the Princess washed, or on the days when she bathed, to fill the bath with the hot water that the Page of the Backstairs brought up in great ornamental ewers. The washing or bathing over, Caroline’s private chaplain was summoned and she would hear morning prayers, usually within the bedchamber itself. This was an important part of the Princess’s daily ritual. She was devoutly religious and, though raised as a Lutheran, became an enthusiastic follower of the Anglican faith once in England.

  After prayers came the ceremony of dressing the Princess in her day clothes – or ‘shifting’, as it was known. This was the most strictly ordered of all the bedchamber rituals. Each attendant looked after a specific item of clothing, which varied according to their rank. The Women of
the Bedchamber, assisted by the laundresses and sempstresses, were responsible for the Princess’s underwear. Her outer garments, which were more valuable and elaborate, were commissioned and cared for by the Ladies of the Bedchamber, under the watchful eye of the Groom of the Stole. After the attendants had ensured that the correct garments were ready, the Woman of the Bedchamber would set them out in order and then hand each item in turn to the Lady of the Bedchamber, who would assist the Princess in putting them on. This painstaking procedure would continue from the linen undergarments to the skirts and outerwear, right down to accessories such as gloves and fans. The final touches would then be put in place, namely dressing her hair and fastening on her jewellery. This would be performed by the Woman of the Bedchamber under the supervision of the Lady, who would discuss with her mistress which jewels she wished to wear that day.

  The ceremony of dressing over, the Princess would venture out into the court, attend formal occasions, make visits or go to chapel, depending on the day of the week. Whatever she was doing, her bedchamber ladies and women were in waiting all the time, in case they were required to run errands for her or attend to her appearance. In the early evening, Caroline would return to her private apartments, where she would spend her time reading, talking or playing cards with her ladies. If there were any formal entertainments later in the evening, such as a drawing room or assembly, both the Ladies and Women of the Bedchamber would accompany their mistress. Finally, the Princess would retire and the rituals of the morning would be performed in reverse, with the ladies and women undressing their mistress and preparing her for bed. Often it could be as late as two o’clock in the morning before they were able to retire themselves.